NEWS + ANALYSIS

Transportation authorities in Virginia recently issued a cease-and-desist order to Uber, a mobile app that allows users to order and pay for private drivers. It was not the first attempt to ban the increasingly popular service. Created in 2009, Uber today is represented in 37 countries and was recently valued at over $18 billion. To see why, despite its popularity, Uber faces constant legal trouble, one must understand the dynamics of market competition in the context of government regulation and rent-seeking, the quest for profits in the political realm rather than in the marketplace.